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Wikipedia.org allows anyone to create pages or edit them in an online ency- dopedia. You can create your own discussion groups on any topic through Yahoo! or To show off your photog- raphy skills, or the latest mug shots of your new kit. tens, you can post your pho- tos on flickr.com or one of the many other photo-Shar ing sites. You can quickly create your own blog to share your opinions or most personal thoughts using Blogger.com and a myriad of other serv- ices. No longer are we relegat- ed to be just consumers of information on the Internet; we can be producers with an increasing ease. Whether you are inter- acting with the website itself, interacting with a service or interacting with other people in the known universe through the site. websites today can be more participatory than informa- tive. ebsiles today are Wnu longer the static and unchanging pages of yesteryear, These days, the popular websites (at least among those on the bleeding edge of technology) are all about interaction, Building your social programming skills and shrrihgthiortiat.ion. Sites like Meetup.com, But there is also a surge of Internet applications (websites that "do some- thing") which focus on bringing ple together and [1"a"r/l'ii','l'irt2fttd",'/. Why? Not surprisingly. most indicators point in the direction of increasing ad revenue for the website owners. All of these trends are pushing the average Inter- net user towards interacting with the worid and increas- ing the amount of Internet content. You can now publish text, photos, audio and video, all with a bit of creativity and a few clicks, and all for free. Sites like Newsvine.com and Topix.net let you com- ment on global or local news events, or even write your own news. There are review sites that allow you and your friends to comm nt on and rate anything 'l','lfg the sun. You could start with a site that features an interactive guide, including Google maps for local business and then start adding content There are severig generic types of applications to choose from on Ning. You can choose from a growing list of existing applications and clone one (make a copy for your own use), or you can dig right in and write some PHP code (or instructions) that con- trols how the site operates. Once you sign up for an account and log in, Ning lets you get as deep as you like into building your own dream social web applica' tion. There is pne more web- site that might be just what you are looking for. Ning.c0m is a website that lets you build your own web applications. ' But what if you think of something that hasn't been created yet? There seems to be a social web application for nearly every idea under the sun. Magnum] and Scraphlog.com are in this genre, and the list of what some call “Web 2.0" applica- lions is growing. Of course, there are addi- tional "premium features" you can pay for if you need them. If you want to run Google or Yahoo! ads on your Ning application. run it All of the features are provided free of charge on Ning. You will need to know a bit of CSS, HTML and PHP, but if you already have those skills under your belt, Ning could be a great playground for you. And, if you have a more technical (and controlling) side to your personality, Ning lets you customize nearly every aspect of your application. On a quick browse through the Ning applica- tion categories, there is a large number of possible applications to start from. for your own area. You could create a dis- cussion group for people interested in library tech- nology and send it to your favourite librarian. Continued on page 24 Gorber ’Petals d, Pots Mc Phon- ordon - new with Lat Poul: a Pots send W Christmas greeting , 3: around the world with DELHI}?! ' *r"ritmmtneir-touseasstrrtatcotoo The Poinsettia: Are Hon! m me 9oeMouse 'ssttNo when m mouse h 114'" 19'" 35au Flower d Gift MPP'